The Health IDEA

The office coffee break counts as one of the things that most office workers look forward to. However, your office’s coffee habit may be costing you plenty. If you’ve been tasked with looking at the health and financial expenses in your office, then you may just want to look at how much coffee is costing you. Here’s how.

An Excuse Not to WorkDid you know that employees spend as much as three of their eight working hours not doing work? Some of thatwasted time is spent at the coffee maker. The time spent brewing coffee takes up about 24 minutes a day, and getting a cup of coffee often means that your employees are also chatting with their colleagues. That’s a lot of time that they could be spending more productively.

Stimulants Aren’t GreatAddiction: When most people hear that word, they think of substances, like alcohol or opioids. However, most coffee contains caffeine, which is an addictive stimulant. The caffeine in a daily cup of coffee increases the brain’s dopamine signaling. Eventually, consuming caffeine changes the brain’s chemistry; using caffeine for several days in a rowcan lead to long-term problemswith focus and mood.

Unfortunately, the lack of focus and problems with mood can directly affect the people working in your office. While most people turn to coffee to amp up their energy levels, they don’t often consider the long-term drawbacks that come with it.

ExpenseAn office without a coffee machine might seem like sacrilege, but the coffee pot in the office kitchen may be costing your company more than just time lost. Over the course of a year, the costs associated with coffee can add up. An office of about 100 people means that company bossesspend several thousand dollars a year on coffeeand the fixings to go with it. (Think paper cups, milk or creamer, sugar, and sweetener, etc.) The average office employee consumes more than 1,000 cups each year. Those kinds of numbers take a bite out of your company’s bottom line.

Although most offices have an office coffee maker for the employees, this may not be in the best interest of the company nor the employees who work there. The hidden expenses of having a coffee machine go beyond the thousands of dollars it costs to keep the office in coffee. It also cuts into employee productivity. Finally, coffee is an addictive substance that affects the health of everyone in the office.